


With His Own Two Hands

by Xernia



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: ...at least at first, Adrien is only mentioned, Boss/Employee Relationship, Canon Era, F/M, Gift Giving, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Moving On, Past Relationship(s), Post Mayura, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unrequited Love, Unresolved Romantic Tension, mostly gab/nat but some gab/em towards the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16916214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xernia/pseuds/Xernia
Summary: When Nathalie began working for Gabriel Agreste, he was happily married. Though she felt some attraction to him, she remained satisfied with quietly working on the sidelines.Suddenly, his wife is gone. Nathalie continues to work diligently.Gabriel gives her a gift.A progression of Nathalie's relationship with Gabriel over several years before and during the series.Teen rating is mostly for Gabriel's canonically bad way of dealing with his wife being gone.





	With His Own Two Hands

**Author's Note:**

> and heres the longest and most passionately fic ive written to date... ik its not that long but normally i write like.... 600 words so this is a surprise.
> 
> i know nothing about fashion so i kept things as vague as possible on purpose lmaooo please forgive me
> 
> i wanted to write some gab/nat that was plausible within canon, aka with no icky stuff like unhealthy stuff or cheating... not that content like that is bad, i just want things to go well with these two... please give the agrestes a happy ending
> 
> Edit - 26/12/18:  
> Fixed typo and phrasing for clarity.

Gabriel Agreste was handsome. It was simply a fact. It was only natural he would -- fashion was his whole career, so looking good was merely part of his job. It was a duty he fulfilled daily with ease. Nathalie understood when she was hired, and made a conscious effort to not indulge in the sight of him. That was part of her job, after all. As a woman, she was allowed to admire, but as an employee, that admiration had limits. Both these sides of her could coexist, so she allowed them to.

She was a grown woman, after all. She understood that she sometimes had a passing fancy, and she understood how to let it pass as painlessly as possible. Gabriel was handsome, but she had seen handsome men before and she had been perfectly fine. This would not be an exception.

 

* * *

 

His wife was beautiful. Her smile was picturesque and her manners perfect. Her words were kind and her every movement graceful. Gabriel always smiled with her, whether it was relief at a late dinner after a long day of work, or her quiet company in between conferences. She was his wife, and she made him happy. Nathalie understood it perfectly well.

He loved his son. Though he often couldn't spend time with him, he constantly asked Nathalie and his wife for updates and reminders if anything was coming up. His son was a good boy. Despite being raised in wealth, he was polite, never neglected his manners, and was never dismissive towards his father’s employees. He was a model son in both senses of the word. Handsome and cooperative at photoshoots, thoughtful and understanding with all he spoke to.

Nathalie saw the boy smile often. She saw the family smiling often. And in her heart, she understood there was no need to interfere, a steady calm settling over her heart.

Her infatuation had persisted longer than she anticipated, but she had already made her peace with it. Gabriel lived a happy life, and she would be fine with that.

 

* * *

 

On slower periods of the year, Gabriel had extra time for a project or two. This meant that he usually indulged his wife with some attention -- some clothes fashioned for her with his own two hands.

Nathalie was around when it happened. She always was.

“Would you mind coming here a moment?” he called to his wife, a smile on his face as he fetched his measuring tape.

“Measuring again?” She laughed, eyeing what he was holding. “I should hope you would know my measurements by now!”

“Well,” he started, immediately beginning his work. “I’m the forgetful type. And I can't seem to find my notes anywhere.”

He wasn't forgetful. And Nathalie could easily find those notes, if asked.

“So you're saying you have no choice?”

Gabriel’s hands lingered at the point between his tape and her waist, caressing her.

“That's what I’m saying.” He confirmed, leaning in for a kiss as his wife giggled and pushed him away, telling him to finish the job quickly.

By now, Nathalie had already turned away in an attempt to give them some privacy, fingers busily typing up an email.

 

* * *

 

“Nathalie,” he called, after a photoshoot. “Do you remember the trenchcoat from Miss Amelia’s fashion show about a month ago?”

“Yes. The deep blue one?” She asked, already working to get the images up on her tablet.

“That's the one.”

Nathalie found the image and showed it to him. She had already kept them saved after seeing how taken he was with the collection.

“Yes…” he muttered in confirmation, clearly deep in thought.

After a moment, he pulled out a small notebook and took some notes. So, it was for his wife.

“That will be all.” He confirmed.

Turning the tablet’s display back to herself, she had the faint desire to understand just what exactly he had drawn inspiration from.

She went back to work.

 

* * *

 

All of a sudden, she was gone.

For all intents and purposes, Adrien no longer had a mother, and Gabriel no longer had a wife.

Gabriel had grown cold. Anger and sorrow settled itself in the shake of his fingers which were normally so precise.

Nathalie reminded him of his upcoming appointments and commitments over the next few weeks, all of which she could cancel, if he gave the word.

He lashed out. Overcome with animalistic ferocity and just a small fraction of his deep sadness, he had yelled. It was only natural. How could he work after this? Yet, she needed his permission to make such cancellations, so she endured it. She would do what she could to make things easier for him, even if it were only small.

She dealt with the onslaught of phone calls and emails with apologies and distant professionalism. Unrest and stress coiled restlessly in her heart.

She was prepared to cancel Adrien’s piano recital, but out of stubborn consideration for others, Adrien decided not to cancel it.

That was the first time Gabriel missed one of Adrien’s piano performances.

 

* * *

 

Later, when he was substantially more calm and in control of himself, Gabriel apologised to her.

She accepted the apology quickly. She understood why it happened, and thus, she held no grudge. Especially not when she was so sure he was still so upset. He might have regained his poise, but the feelings within him almost certainly hadn't shifted.

 

* * *

 

Hawkmoth had become the greatest terror of the city. And Nathalie knew exactly who he was.

She didn't know when, but somewhere along the line she had vowed within her heart not only to serve Gabriel Agreste as an employee, but as someone who genuinely cared for him. So, although it was far outside her job description, she went along with it, always willing to come up with some kind of alibi to help Gabriel’s frequent disappearances look less suspicious.

Though he was a man that always seemed distant, and after the incident with his wife, cold; he was a man who loved passionately, with everything he had. Those private emotions were only exposed under the guise of Hawkmoth. He loved his wife. He missed his wife. He needed his wife. His son needed his wife.

As far as he was concerned, his wife was not gone yet. She could still come back, he often mused, if only his plans would succeed.

Distantly, Nathalie realised that this wasn't right. But it was not her job to question. She was there to support him in any of his endeavours, regardless of what they were. Ultimately, she wordlessly continued to follow orders.

 

* * *

 

She was prepared to be akumatised. She was prepared to serve. If everything went right, then everything would be the way they always should have been, and she would return to her position as a mere secretary.

 

* * *

 

In desperation, she had ended up using a miraculous, and Gabriel was only barely able to get away.

He was on his knees in front of her as she sat down, desperately trying to appear unaffected by her admittedly very reckless actions.

He held her hand, smiled and thanked her.

Ah, just how was she supposed to calm down and slow her heartbeat when he was doing this?

 

* * *

 

“Nathalie, come here.” Gabriel called once, on a rainy day.

“Yes?” She moved her gaze away from her tablet to Gabriel, who was holding measuring tape.

“Put that down.” He said frankly, expression carefully neutral. “I’m going to take your measurements.”

“A-ah.” She complied.

“Tell me if you feel uncomfortable, or if you feel I am touching anywhere inappropriate.”

“Yes.”

They were actions devoid of the tenderness and open infatuation that he granted his wife, cool and precise instead of lingering.

“You have worked for me for quite a while, and while I can tell that you often opt for economical, practical clothing, which is by no means a bad thing,” he explained, “Even that is sometimes inappropriate in the fashion world. It simply won't do. I'll make you something you can wear to our more important meetings and events.”

“I see.” She forced herself to answer, remembering the weak excuses Gabriel often gave his wife when she was in the same position. “I… see.”

 

* * *

 

After a meeting with a collaborator about fabrics, Gabriel pulled out three samples.

“Nathalie.” He called, tone as distant as ever. “Give me your arm.”

She looked up from her work, freeing up the arm closest to him. Gently holding her wrist, he put her arm between the two of them, splaying the fabric samples next to her skin.

“Which do you think looks best?” He inquired.

Her words were momentarily caught in her throat. So, he had been thinking about it…

“The second one, the green.” She finally said, trying to pass off her silence as contemplation rather than shock.

“I see.” He said, moving away. “A splendid choice.”

 

* * *

 

The next week, Gabriel begun spending his spare time working on an emerald green dress.

Nathalie watched as he stared closely at his work on the mannequin, all manner of pins on his desk and design notes clutched tight in his hand.

A conservative neckline. Reserved, but elegant and classy. It was a fine dress.

Nathalie realised she had not heard him speak about his wife both as Gabriel and as Hawkmoth for about a week.

 

* * *

 

Nathalie came home with a dress.

She had honestly tried to go about her regular routine without paying it any mind, but midway through her late dinner, she conceded to temptation.

Forgetting her meal for the moment, she went to her bedroom, where she had set down the gown. She undressed and for a moment, only stared down at the neatly folded fabric.

Then, very carefully, she pulled it on and did up the zip.

She looked in the mirror.

Beautiful.

She stared at the thin straps by her shoulders and brushed her fingers over the hem of the neckline. She thought of him sitting by the sewing machine, fingers gliding easily across deep green cloth.

Her eyelashes fluttered as she shut her eyes, quietly aware of the feeling of the dress over her skin, quietly aware of the time, effort and consideration put into this dress.

After a few minutes, she returned to her meal; but each time she passed a mirror or anything reflective, she couldn't help but take a moment to stop and stare.

 

* * *

 

“Did you try it on?” Gabriel asked suddenly, as soon as they were alone.

Nathalie blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden question.

“I did.”

“Does it fit? Do you need any adjustments or alterations?”

“It’s…” Perfect. Gorgeous. “It fits comfortably.”

“I'll take your word for it.” He appeared satisfied. “Though I'll have to take a look myself once I see you wear it.”

“Of course.”

 

* * *

 

She wore it to work two weeks later. Gabriel was set to meet a designer who had flown in from overseas, so she thought it was only appropriate.

Wear it with bronze, she recalled him once saying; so she did. Before leaving the house, she slipped on a blazer with the peacock miraculous pin, and looked in the mirror.

She left with lipstick a shade darker than usual.

 

* * *

 

When she arrived for work, Nathalie could tell Gabriel was looking at her.

During a spare moment, she decided to address it.

“So, how does it look?” She asked offhandedly without removing her gaze from her work.

“Just as I wanted. I’m quite pleased with it, actually.” He then paused, as if considering something. “I see you remembered what I said about bronze jewellery.”

“Of course. I would hardly think I should ignore the advice of a world famous designer.” She smiled to herself.

In response, he chuckled, a rare thing.

“Right.” He smiled, “But could I see it without the jacket?”

She finished typing a draft for an email before standing and slipping the jacket off. He adjusted his glasses, appraising the look.

“Very good.” He finally concluded. “I like it with the stockings. Perhaps it would also work with your hair out.”

Nathalie resolutely did not fidget under the scrutiny.

“Perhaps,” she agreed, tone airy. “I also like it a lot. It is… wonderful work as always, sir.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He remarked, and Nathalie knew it was genuine.

 

* * *

 

Nathalie came home with a smile on her lips. She stepped out of her heels and took off her dangling bronze earrings. She slipped out of her dress, faintly thinking of how much she enjoyed the feeling of the expensive fabric across her skin.

Before putting it in the laundry, she ran her fingers across the hem of the skirt, admiring the expert handiwork.

It truly was a wonderful dress.


End file.
